Client-side web service provider

ABSTRACT

To facilitate client access to web services, a server may be configured to package or bundle a function call for a web service with associated information. The resulting function call package may be distributed to multiple clients. Such a package may include parameters for the function call and/or software code that can facilitate a client web site to make the function call. The package may also include branding information associated with the web service. Results of the function call can be presented through the client web site with the branding information associated with the web service, allowing a third party to retain branding for their web service provided through the client web site.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This is a continuation, and claims a benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.§120, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/618,837, filed Sep. 14,2012, entitled “CLIENT-SIDE WEB SERVICE PROVIDER,” which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/858,054, filed Aug.17, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,312,480, entitled “CLIENT-SIDE WEB SERVICEPROVIDER,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/915,858, filed Aug. 11, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,788,681, entitled“CLIENT-SIDE WEB SERVICE PROVIDER,” which claims priority fromProvisional Application No. 60/503,523, filed Sep. 16, 2003, entitled“CLIENT-SIDE WEB SERVICE PROVIDER,” all of which are fully incorporatedby reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to web services. More particularly,this disclosure relates to third party web branding through client-sideweb services.

BACKGROUND

Many different businesses maintain a presence on the Internet.Typically, this presence is in the form of a web site, although abusiness may also use the Internet to access information or services, orto provide information or services. Often, a business may combine anumber of these uses. For example, a business may provide a web sitethat provides information about the business and allows users of the website to access services that are provided by a server that is separatefrom the business' web site.

Conventionally, services that reside at sites other than the business'web site have been accessed by providing a link to the other site. Thus,a user might view a first web site, see a link to a service, click onthe link, and be taken to the site at which the service resides.Originally, it was typical for this type of linking to be readilyapparent, as the user was simply transferred to the second web site.This could be somewhat problematic, however, as it is generallydesirable for the business to keep the user at its own web site in orderto maximize the effect of the web site (e.g., to increase the exposureof the business or the sales made via the web site). Techniques havetherefore been developed to disguise the transfer of the user to thesecond web site. For instance, when a user is transferred to the secondweb site from the first web site, the appearance of the second web sitemay be altered by using graphics provided by the first web site or otherindicia of the first web site. It may therefore appear that the servicesare actually being provided by the first web site.

Another technique for providing services over the internet is referredto as “web services.” While the services described above are providedover the web (the internet), the term “web services” is typically used(and will be used herein) to refer to services that can be accessed bymaking a function call to a remote server and then providing the resultsreturned by the function call to the user of the first web site. “Webservices” are further described in the Web Services InteroperabilityOrganization's Basic Profile Version 1.0, herein incorporated byreference. While this technique keeps the user at the first web site andmay simplify or streamline the process of providing the requestedservices to the user, there are several problems associated with the useof web services that still exist.

One problem is that, while a function call for accessing the web servicemay be defined and available for use by potential clients, the propersyntax for the function call may not be apparent. For example, it may beclear that the function call should include a date, but the requiredformat of the date in the function call may not be clear. Thus, a clientmay make the function call with the date in the format “Jan. 1, 2002”,when the date should instead be in the format “01/01/02”. The functioncall may therefore fail because the web service provider cannotinterpret the date.

Another problem is that the web service provider may wish to have theweb service presented in a particular way. For instance, the web serviceprovider may be a provider of traveler's checks and may wish to havetrademarks associated with the traveler's checks presented to the userin connection with the means for accessing the web service for orderingtraveler's checks from the provider because a particular web service istypically accessed by looking up the form of a function callcorresponding to the web service and making the function call withoutany regard to the branding of the service. The web services providedthrough the function call may therefore be presented to an end user in away that is inconsistent with the presentation desired by the providerof the web service.

SUMMARY

One or more of the problems outlined above may be solved by the variousembodiments of the invention. Broadly speaking, the invention comprisessystems and methods for enabling clients to access web services, whereinfunction calls are packaged with information and/or code thatfacilitates use of the function calls.

One embodiment comprises a system that includes a server, where theserver is configured to provide a web service accessible through afunction call. The server is configured to bundle the function call forthe web service with information for facilitating use of the webservice. The resulting function call package is provided to clients sothat they can access the web service. The information for facilitatinguse of the web service may further include information for facilitatingexecution of the function call which may, for example, includeparameters for the call or software code. The software code can beconfigured to format user input for use as parameters of the functioncall, to prompt the user for parameters, to control the display of theresults received in response to execution of the function call, or tootherwise facilitate use of the function call and the corresponding webservices.

Another embodiment comprises a method that includes the steps ofproviding a function call for accessing a web service, bundling thefunction call with information for facilitating use of the web service,or execution of the function call, in a function call package, anddistributing the function call package.

Another embodiment comprises a software program product. The softwareprogram product contains program instructions that are configured tocause a computer to perform the method comprising the steps of providinga function call for accessing a web service, bundling the function callwith information for facilitating use of the web service or execution ofthe function call in a function call package, and providing the functioncall package to a client.

In one embodiment, a function call is packaged with informationcorresponding to one or more of the input parameters, output parameters,or return values defined for the function call. The information mayprovide the actual parameters for the function call, or they may provideinformation to a client that enables the client to produce asyntactically correct function call for the web service. In oneembodiment, the package includes code, which may be in various languagessuch as Java or Perl that is configured to perform some process insupport of the function call. These processes may include such things asinteracting with a user to obtain parameters for the function call,formatting parameter values, making the function call, formatting theresults of the call, and so on. The processes may also involve somedegree of management control, such as controlling the display of the webservice results to include the logos of the service provider, usecertain colors, fonts, etc. in the displayed results, and so on. Thecode may also allow a client to customize the package, within theconstraints of the service provider's controls, to fit within its owndisplay scheme. The client may also be allowed to modify the package andto distribute the modified package to its own affiliates.

Numerous additional embodiments are also possible.

The various embodiments of the invention may provide a number ofadvantages over the prior art. These advantages may include, forexample: overcoming syntactical problems that would otherwise beencountered by a client that is aware of the substantive content of afunction call parameter, but is unaware of the particular formattingthat is necessary within the framework of the function call; enabling aservice provider to implement management controls to ensure proper useof logos, colors, and the like; and enabling a client to modify thepackage to implement its own controls within the constraints of theservice provider's controls and to distribute the modified package toits affiliates to allow them to access the web service in the samemanner. Still other advantages will be apparent to those of skill in theart.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the invention may become apparent uponreading the following detailed description and upon reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating some of the basic components of anetwork system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the components of an exemplary computersystem.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the use of a link to transfer a userfrom a first web site to a second web site that provides desiredservices.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the use of a function call package at afirst web site to obtain a desired service from a second web sitewithout the user having to leave the first web site.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the invention in whicha service provider provides a packaged function call for use inobtaining web services.

While the invention is subject to various modifications and alternativeforms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in thedrawings and the accompanying detailed description. It should beunderstood, however, that the drawings and detailed description are notintended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment which isdescribed. This disclosure is instead intended to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope ofthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments of the invention are described below. It shouldbe noted that these and any other embodiments described below areexemplary and are intended to be illustrative of the invention ratherthan limiting.

As described herein, various embodiments of the invention comprisesystems and methods for enabling access to web services wherein functioncalls are packaged with information and/or code that facilitates use ofthe function calls.

One embodiment comprises a method for providing access to web services.In this embodiment, a web service provider makes a web service availableand defines a function call that can be used to request the service (tocall the web service function). The web service provider then takes thefunction call and packages it in a manner that facilitates its use. Forexample, one or more of the fields of the function call may be provided,or code may be bundled with the function call to revise improperlyformatted fields in the function call before the call is executed.

Another embodiment comprises a system configured to package a functioncall with information corresponding to one or more of the inputparameters, output parameters, or return values defined for the functioncall. The function call may further be packaged with code in a suitableprogramming language configured to perform processes in support of thefunction call. The information packaged with the function call mayprovide the actual parameters for the function call, or they may provideinformation that enables production of a syntactically correct functioncall for the web service. The code packaged with the function call mayfacilitate preparation or execution of the function call, or mayimplement management control over the display or other use of the webservices.

The various embodiments are typically implemented in a networkenvironment. The network consists of multiple devices (e.g.,workstations, servers, etc.) that may be arranged in any of a variety oftopologies. A preferred embodiment of the invention is implemented in aninternet environment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrating some of the basic componentsof a network system is shown. As depicted in this figure, the systemcomprises a client 12, a network 13, and a server 16. It should be notedthat the network configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 is intended to beexemplary rather than limiting. Other embodiments may employ alternativeconfigurations. For example, there may be multiple clients and multipleservers that are interconnected by multiple individual networks.Alternatively, a client may be directly coupled to a server without anintervening network. Many such variations are possible.

Communications between client 12, and server 16 (as well as network 13)can be accomplished using electronic, optical, radio-frequency, or othersignals. For example, client 12 may convert signals received from server16 to a human understandable form and may convert input from a humanunderstandable form to appropriate electronic, optical, radio-frequency,or other signals to be used by server 16. Similarly, when an operator isat server 16, server 16 may convert the signals to a humanunderstandable form when sending a communication to the operator and mayconvert input from a human understandable form to appropriateelectronic, optical, radio-frequency, or other signals to be used byclient 12.

In one embodiment, each of client 12 and server 16 is implemented in acorresponding computer system. These computer systems may comprisedesktop computers, laptop computers, or other types of devices capableof communicating over the networks and processing the informationcommunicated between them. Referring to FIG. 2, a diagram illustratingthe components of an exemplary computer system is shown. The computersystem illustrated in this figure may be used as a platform for client12 or server 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, computer system 20 comprises a central processingunit (“CPU”) 22, read-only memory (“ROM”) 24, random access memory(“RAM”) 26, hard disk drive (“HD”) or storage memory 28, andinput/output device(s) (“I/O”) 29. I/O 29 can include a keyboard,monitor, printer, electronic pointing device (e.g., mouse, trackball,stylus, etc.), or the like.

The computer systems that provide platforms for the client and servermay each have more than one CPU, ROM, RAM, HD, I/O, or other hardwarecomponents. For simplicity, the computer illustrated in FIG. 2 isdepicted in as having one of each of the listed hardware components. Itshould be noted that FIG. 2 is a simplification of an exemplary hardwareconfiguration. Many other alternative hardware configurations arepossible and known to persons of skill in the art.

It should be noted that, in addition to being implemented in suitablecomputer systems, some embodiments may be implemented in softwareprograms or code. The software code comprises instructions configured tocause a computer on which the code is executed to perform a method inaccordance with the present disclosure. These software embodiments maybe referred to as software program products. The software code may beembodied in any suitable computer-readable media. For instance, thesoftware code may reside within ROM 24, RAM 26, hard disk drives 28 orother computer-readable media within a computer system. The softwarecode may also be contained on a separable data storage device, such as aremovable hard disk, or on removable computer-readable media such as aDASD array, magnetic tape, floppy diskette, optical storage device, orthe like. In one embodiment, the software code may comprise lines ofcompiled C⁺⁺, Java, or other language code.

“Computer” and “computer system,” as used herein, are intended toinclude any type of data processing system capable of performing thefunctions described herein. “Computer-readable media,” as used herein,refers to any medium that can store program instructions that can beexecuted by a computer, and includes floppy disks, hard disk drives,CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, RAM, ROM, DASD arrays, magnetic tapes, floppydiskettes, optical storage devices and the like.

As mentioned above, businesses may wish to maintain web sites thatprovide a variety of services, some of which are not resident on thebusiness' web site. These businesses may make use of remote web sitesthat provide the desired services. An example is illustrated in FIG. 3.Referring to FIG. 3, a web site 100 is hosted by a business operatingunder the name OnlineBank.com. OnlineBank.com wishes to provide itsusers with a convenient way to order traveler's checks. OnlineBank.comdoes not provide this service locally, so it provides a link 105 to asecond web site 110, which is hosted by another business asTravelersChecks.com. TravelersChecks.com has a server that delivers afunction through which traveler's checks can be ordered by users. Afterthe users order traveler's checks through this web site, however, theyare left at the TravelersChecks.com site instead of being transferredback to the original (OnlineBank.com) web site.

This is the traditional way in which remote services were provided. Theuser was actually transferred to the remote web site by clicking on thelink to the services. The display that is presented to the user could bebranded for OnlineBank.com, but the user was actually at theTravelersChecks.com web site. The user then had to fill out forms orotherwise transact with the remote web site as if he or she hadoriginally gone directly to the remote site in order to obtain thedesired services (e.g., ordering traveler's checks).

This type of interaction could be used to provide other services in thesame manner. For example, a business might have an affiliate program. Anaffiliated web site (an affiliate) can present a button to a user thatsays, e.g., “buy this book.” The affiliate in this example correspondsto the local (i.e., OnlineBank.com). When the user clicks on the button,the user is taken to the service provider's web site. The server at theservice provider's web site keeps track of where the order came from(i.e., the affiliate web site), and a commission is paid to theaffiliate.

The problem with the interactions described above is that the user wasremoved from the context of the original web site. After the useraccessed the services that were desired, the user was left at the remoteweb site instead of the original web site. The business operating theoriginal web site had thus lost the user that it had originallyattracted to its web site, and consequently lost the interaction,advertising potential, etc. for which the business had originally triedto attract the user to the site.

As noted above, another technique that is available for accessingremotely provided services is the web services mechanism. Web servicesare also sometimes referred to as application services. The term “webservices” describes a standardized way of integrating Web-basedapplications using open standards such as XML (Extensible MarkupLanguage), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WSDL (Web ServicesDescription Language) and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery andIntegration), typically over an IP-protocol network such as theinternet. Usually, XML is used to tag the data, SOAP is used to transferthe data, WSDL is used for describing the services available and a UDDIserver is used to provide a list of the web services that are available.Web services may be used as a means for businesses to communicate witheach other and with clients, or for allowing organizations tocommunicate data to each other without having intimate knowledge of eachother's IT systems.

Unlike traditional client/server models such as a web server/web pagesystem, web services do not provide the user with a GUI and do notrequire the use of browsers or HTML. Web services instead share businesslogic, data and processes through a programmatic interface across anetwork. Software applications themselves interface with each other sothat users do not have to. Developers can add web services to GUIs,often through web pages or executable programs, to offer specificfunctionality or services to users.

Web services allow different applications from different sources tocommunicate with each other without time-consuming custom coding, andbecause all communication is in a standardized language such as XML, Webservices are not tied to any one operating system or programminglanguage. Thus, a Java application can communicate with a Perl script, aWindows application can communicate with a UNIX application, and so on.

Using the web services mechanism, a client can generate a request to aserver which provides the desired service in response to the request.While there are a variety of mechanisms for remote procedure calls thatare in some respects similar, web services are somewhat unique in thatthey do not require that the server distribute a library of informationdescribing the web service in order to enable its use. Other mechanismsmay need information regarding the procedure for determining theexistence of the server-side function, the format of the procedure call(the number and types of input and out parameters, as well as returnvalues), the manner of invoking the procedure, and the manner ofreceiving a response from the server. In fact, it is typicallynecessary, when using mechanisms other than web services, to compilesuch information into the client-side software. Web services do notinvolve programming languages, per se, at all. The discovery andinvocation process is executed using XML descriptions of the data(procedure signature and parameter definitions) over commonly usedtransport protocols, such as HTTP.

Referring to FIG. 4, the use of web services to provide users withaccess to services residing on remote sites is illustrated. Web servicesallow the user to stay within the context of the original web site 200(OnlineBank.com), but still access the remotely provided service bytransitioning the user into a wizard 210 or similar process within theoriginal web site. (Although shown separately in the figure, wizard 210is a process operating within the context of web site 200.) Wizard 210interacts with the user 220 and collects the necessary information forthe desired transaction, then submits a transaction to a transactionsystem 230 associated with the remote web site 240 which provides theservice. Transaction system 230 processes the transaction (e.g., createsthe order for the traveler's checks) and typically responds to wizard210 on original web site 200 with a confirmation. The confirmation thenprovides the basis for a display that is presented to user 220. Itshould be noted that the transaction is directed to transaction system230, and not to web site 240 itself. Thus, while the transaction mayappear in many respects to the user to be the same as the previousmethods, the user never actually leaves the original web site.

Transaction system 230 may be a server. The purpose of the server is toprovide a function or service, such as ordering travelers checks. Thereare a set of parameters that server needs to have in order to process anorder for travelers checks. These parameters may include suchinformation as the user's address, quantity of traveler's checksdesired, denominations, partner credentials (to make sure that the orderis coming from a partner authorized to use the system), and so on. Thisinformation may take the form of strings, integers, binary values,logical values or various other types of data. This information is usedto make a function call to the server to access the function or service.In the context of web services, this function call is expressed in a waythat anyone who can use web services has this function call available tothem, so that they can make the function call to the server and place anorder for traveler's checks.

The function call is formatted in a way that it can be used byessentially anyone. Typically, the function call is defined or formattedin web services description language, or WSDL. WSDL is used to definethe parameters of the function call so that it can be made available topotential users of the service. The function call in WSDL usually hasinput parameters, output parameters and a return value. Each of theseparameters is defined by a name and a type.

Prior to the advent of web services, the function call parameters wouldall be expressed in binary representations, and header files, and thelike. Anybody that wanted to use the function call had to compile codethat was provided by the service provider into their software in orderto be able to make the function calls for the desired services. In a webservices environment, it is not necessary for a potential user of theweb services to obtain any code to compile into their own software.Instead, these potential users only have to have an explanation of howthe function call is made. The function call can then be made in XML,possibly using SOAP.

The location of the function call for a web service can be determined byaccessing a UDDI server. UDDI is a directory service. The UDDI serveridentifies web services that are available, who provides them, and themanner in which function calls for these Web services are made. Forexample, there are public UDDI servers. It is possible to browse intothese servers and find different services. For instance, the UDDI servermight identify a service for temperature conversion. According to theinformation in the UDDI server, the function call might require that anumber, a type (e.g., Fahrenheit) for the temperature prior toconversion, and a type for the temperature after conversion (e.g.,Celsius) be provided in a function call. In response to this functioncall, the server that provides the web service would return a numberthat represents the converted temperature. The function calls andresponses are typically just XML calls that could actually be formattedby hand and sent back and forth.

A great deal of attention has been paid to the tools and definitions ofthe server-side components involved in web services, i.e., how topublish the server-side functions, how to make the web servicesavailable to be discovered and to be invoked, and how to support theincoming XML SOAP request and transform it into the native server-sideprogramming environment where the execution of the service occurs. Whathas not been addressed, however, is a model to allow the serviceprovider to create a client-side package that invokes the SOAP request.

This is important because, while the web services model gives a user themeans to access web services, the user still has to figure out exactlyhow to implement these means (i.e., how to make the function calls). Ina normal web services call, the client has to create the code to makethe call, has to understand the semantics of the call's parameters (whatdoes “address” mean”, how is it formatted, etc.). All of this is outsidethe scope of the information stored in the UDDI server. Thus, while theuser may know that it is necessary to provide a value such as a date asone of the parameters of the function call, the particular format of thedate in the function call may be unknown. Then, the client receives only“bare-bones” information returned by the server in response to the call.There is no formatting, control, or the like. Because the web servicesmodel focuses on the simple transfer of information back and forththrough XML calls, there is no mechanism for the service provider tocontrol the manner in which the services are presented to an end user.There is therefore no means to ensure, for example, that appropriatebranding is used with the services.

These issues result in many of the interoperability problems that areconventionally experienced when using web services. Simply formatting anexpression in XML doesn't solve these problems—it is still necessary toknow what has to be accomplished and how it has to be done.

The result of these issues is that incorporating a web service in a sitepresents a whole host of problems. For example, suppose web site 200(OnlineBank.com) wishes to integrate the web service provided by secondweb site 240 (TravelersChecks.com) in a manner in which the web servicesof TravelersChecks.com may be provided without having to leave theoriginal OnlineBank.com site. In this case, the OnlineBank.com site willhave to obtain a list of web services available fromTravelersChecks.com, determine the web service it wishes to incorporate,determine what information is required by that web service, andconstruct an interface to obtain the required information from user 220of the web site 200 (possibly using wizard 210). Once information isobtained from user 220, the site 200 (possibly using wizard 210) canconstruct a call to the web service (or transaction system 230) andreturn the results to user 220 of original web site 200. This isproblematic, if the web service changes so must the interface forobtaining information from user 220, and the associated call to the webservice, essentially breaking the original web site 200 (or wizard 210).Additionally, as the web service interface is presented by theOnlineBank.com site, the actual provider of the web service,TravelersChecks.com, has no way to control how its web service, or theresults, are presented.

The embodiments disclosed herein address the client side of the webservices model by essentially allowing the client-side experience to bepresented as the provider of the web service wants it to be expressed.This may include parameterization as appropriate to allow the experienceto fit within the environment of the user of the web services, or a website which incorporates the web service. This tool gives the web serviceprovider control over the client-side expression of the web service andthus provides an ability to, for example, protect the brand associatedwith the service.

Referring to FIG. 5, one embodiment of the invention comprises providinga package 320 from a web service provider 310 to a web site which wishesto incorporate a web service, where package 320 contains a function call321 corresponding to a particular web service, as well as someadditional information or code 322 that can reduce the site's effort inattempting to make the function call to obtain the web service. Package320 may therefore include one or more of the input, output or returnparameters. Package 320 may also include code (e.g., in Java) thatperforms various functions, such as assisting the incorporating web site200 in providing the appropriate function call parameters, actuallymaking the function call to the service provider's transaction system,presenting the results of the function call to a user at a client, andso on.

By providing the incorporating web site 300 with function call 321 thatis packaged in this manner, this embodiment of the invention gives theservice provider some control over how the web service is beingprovided. The package provided to the site 300 provides enoughinformation for the site 300 to be able to make a function call to webservice provider 310 without having to struggle with the semantics, andalso allows the service provider to retain branding associated with theservice, as well as some degree of management control.

Thus, in the OnlineBank.com example used above, TravelersCheck.com wouldprovide a packaged function call to OnlineBank.com. The package mightcontain some of the required input/output parameters, or might provideinformation to OnlineBank.com in order to enable the OnlineBank.com siteto properly format the input/output parameters. This package can becomprised of text files in the form of HTML, XML or JavaScript that aredeployed by the client to expose the Web Service in their environment.In addition, the packaged may be composed of an archive file (such asear, tar, jar, war) containing compiled code from Java, C#, C++, etc. ora combination thereof including documentation. A properties file orstyle sheet or configuration file could be a way for the clientorganization to modify the behavior of the package to make any userinterface or other components of the package fit into their application.Using this information, the OnlineBank.com site may obtain appropriateinformation from a user who whishes to utilize the web service.

Based on this information, OnlineBank.com may then make a function callto the web service provided by TravelersChecks.com. The package mightalso include Java code to make the call. The call itself and the resultof the call (the service) would still be communicated betweenOnlineBank.com and TravelersChecks.com in the form of SOAP. OnceOnlineBank.com receives these results from TravelersChecks.com they maybe formatted according to information 322 in package 320, thus theresults would be displayed to the OnlineBank.com user in a manner thatconforms to the requirements of TravelersChecks.com. For instance, theresults could be displayed with a TravelersChecks.com icon and/or usinga trademark associated with traveler's checks provided byTravelersChecks.com. All of this functionality provided by the packagedfunction call could, for example, be wrapped up in a wizard of the typeillustrated in FIG. 4.

It should be noted that the control of the function call and/or itsresults provided by the embodiment of the invention described above maynevertheless allow an incorporating web site to customize the package tofit within the site's own scheme. The site may therefore be able tomodify the package (within the constraints of the service provider'scontrols) and distribute the modified package to its own affiliates, sothat they can use the same package to obtain the corresponding service.

When a user wants to use the Web service, the package is activated. Thismay be accomplished by making a call to the Java code within thepackage, which then initiates the function call to obtain the webservice. The information included in the package can control how to makethe call, how to handle the confirmation, how to display the results ofthe web service to the user (e.g., how logos are displayed and whatcolors are used), and so on.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thesemethodologies for incorporating web services may be applied at anylevel. For example, packages for web services may be distributeddirectly to a user, or may be re-distributed by an incorporating website to other web sites which wish to incorporate the original webservice.

Those of skill in the art will also understand that information andsignals may be represented using any of a variety of differenttechnologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands,information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referencedthroughout the above description may be represented by voltages,currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, opticalfields or particles, or any combination thereof. The information andsignals may be communicated between components of the disclosed systemsusing any suitable transport media, including wires, metallic traces,vias, optical fibers, and the like.

Those of skill will further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Those of skill in the art may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with processors, digital signal processors (DSPs) or otherlogic devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), discrete gates or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A processor may be any suitableprocessor, controller, microcontroller, state machine or the like. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The steps of the methods or algorithms described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, insoftware or firmware modules executed by a processor, or in acombination thereof. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flashmemory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthe processor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, theprocessor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in auser terminal.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention.Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein maybe applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit orscope of the invention. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to belimited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widestscope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

The benefits and advantages which may be provided by the invention havebeen described above with regard to specific embodiments. These benefitsand advantages, and any elements or limitations that may cause them tooccur or to become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical,required, or essential features of any or all of the claims. As usedherein, the terms ‘comprises,’ ‘comprising,’ or any other variationsthereof, are intended to be interpreted as non-exclusively including theelements or limitations which follow those terms. Accordingly, a system,method, or other embodiment that comprises a set of elements is notlimited to only those elements, and may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to the claimed embodiment.

While the invention has been described with reference to particularembodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments areillustrative and that the scope of the invention is not limited to theseembodiments. Many variations, modifications, additions and improvementsto the embodiments described above are possible. It is contemplated thatthese variations, modifications, additions and improvements fall withinthe scope of the invention as detailed within the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: at least one processor;non-transitory computer memory; and stored instructions embodied on thenon-transitory computer memory and translatable by the at least oneprocessor to perform: responsive to a user requesting a web service at aweb site, activating a package from a web service provider computer bymaking a call to code contained in the package, wherein responsive tothe call, the code initiates a function call to the web service providercomputer to obtain the web service from the web service providercomputer, wherein the package includes information for properlyformatting one or more input/output parameters and return valuesrequired by the function call; and presenting results of the functioncall through the web site.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the storedinstructions are further translatable by the at least one processor toperform modification of the package from the web service provider. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein the package includes a properties file, astyle sheet, or a configuration file for the modification of thepackage.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein the stored instructions arefurther translatable by the at least one processor to performdistribution of the modified package to at least one affiliate computerso that the at least one affiliate computer is able to obtain the webservice from the web service provider computer using the modifiedpackage.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored instructions arefurther translatable by the at least one processor to performdistribution of the package to at least one affiliate computer so thatthe at least one affiliate computer is able to obtain the web servicefrom the web service provider computer using the package.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein the information comprises branding informationassociated with the web service and wherein the results of the functioncall are presented with the branding information associated with the webservice, thereby retaining branding associated with the web serviceprovided through the web site.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein thepackage includes text files for exposing the web service to users of theweb site.
 8. A method, comprising: a web site server computer receivinga package from a web service provider computer, wherein the packageincludes code for making a function call corresponding to a web serviceand information for properly formatting one or more input/outputparameters and return values required by the function call; responsiveto a user requesting the web service at a web site, the web site servercomputer activating the package from the web service provider computerby making a call to the code contained in the package, whereinresponsive to the call, the code initiates the function call to the webservice provider computer to obtain the web service from the web serviceprovider computer; the web site server computer receiving results of thefunction call from the web service provider computer; and the web siteserver computer presenting results of the function call through the website.
 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: the website server computer modifying the package from the web serviceprovider.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the packageincludes a properties file, a style sheet, or a configuration file formodification of the package.
 11. The method according to claim 9,further comprising: the web site server computer distributing themodified package to at least one affiliate computer communicativelyconnected thereto so that the at least one affiliate computer is able toobtain the web service from the web service provider computer using themodified package.
 12. The method according to claim 8, furthercomprising: the web site server computer distributing the package to atleast one affiliate computer communicatively connected thereto so thatthe at least one affiliate computer is able to obtain the web servicefrom the web service provider computer using the package.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the information comprises brandinginformation associated with the web service and wherein the results ofthe function call are presented with the branding information associatedwith the web service, thereby retaining branding associated with the webservice provided through the web site.
 14. The method according to claim8, wherein the package includes text files for exposing the web serviceto users of the web site.
 15. A computer program product comprising atleast one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructionstranslatable by at least one processor to perform: receiving a packagefrom a web service provider computer, wherein the package includes codefor making a function call corresponding to a web service andinformation for properly formatting one or more input/output parametersand return values required by the function call; responsive to a userrequesting the web service at a web site, activating the package fromthe web service provider computer by making a call to the code containedin the package, wherein responsive to the call, the code initiates thefunction call to the web service provider computer to obtain the webservice from the web service provider computer; receiving results of thefunction call from the web service provider computer; and presentingresults of the function call through the web site.
 16. The computerprogram product of claim 15, wherein the instructions are furthertranslatable by the at least one processor to perform modification ofthe package from the web service provider.
 17. The computer programproduct of claim 16, wherein the package includes a properties file, astyle sheet, or a configuration file for the modification of thepackage.
 18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein theinstructions are further translatable by the at least one processor toperform distribution of the modified package to at least one affiliatecomputer so that the at least one affiliate computer is able to obtainthe web service from the web service provider computer using themodified package.
 19. The computer program product of claim 15, whereinthe instructions are further translatable by the at least one processorto perform distribution of the package to at least one affiliatecomputer so that the at least one affiliate computer is able to obtainthe web service from the web service provider computer using thepackage.
 20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein theinformation comprises branding information associated with the webservice and wherein the results of the function call are presented withthe branding information associated with the web service, therebyretaining branding associated with the web service provided through theweb site.